Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Rating: T

Summary: After the explosion on the building, Loz manages to live another day. But what happens when he shows up at Tifa's bar, wounded and weak? Will she help him? And what happens when Cloud shows up . . . ? Post AC, Loz x Tifa

Author Notes: I really want to write something that has to do with this pairing. After reading some great fanfictions with these two in it . . . well, shoot. I wanna write one! This is my first ever Final Fantasy fanfic, so . . . yeah. Uhm, hopefully you all will enjoy?

Crawling

"We can go together . . ."

He was so close. Before him flooded a bright light, the scent of flowers . . . and most importantly he found warmth; a sense of belonging. His fingertips tingled, as if someone was trying to grab them, to pull him nearer.

"Brother . . ."

"I'm here!" he yelled hoarsely. But suddenly, it wasn't so bright. Theradiance was fading slowly, the warmth leaving his body.

"Hurry . . ."

Their voices echoed in his head . . . He tried to move, tried to extend a hand, but nothing seemed to budge.

"Loz!"

There was no more light.

He was alone.

Drawing in a quick breath, he wrenched open his eyes. But all he saw was darkness. "Help me!" he yelled, but his voice was muffled by something heavy that was on top of his chest, the side of his face pressed against it. He could feel his body again, but along with that, he could feel a throbbing pain rushing through him, ebbing away at every corner of his flesh. The cold, hard ground against his back wasn't helping, either. Loz once again tried yelling for help, but nothing came. He pushed forward, feeling something hard . . .

Then he remembered what happened. He and Yazoo were on top of a building with their Big Brother . . . there was an explosion . . .

His muscles tensed as he once again struggled to get free from this prison of broken plaster. "G-get . . . off!" he growled, and finally, it was pushed off him. His lungs were no longer pressured, but it was still hard to breathe with all the dust and debris. The silver-haired man got up slowly, bumping his head against something.

"Ow!" he muttered, rubbing his temple. Looking down at his gloved hand, he saw blood. His lower lip quivered a bit, heart racing. What was going on? Where was Mother? Where was . . .

"Yazoo! Kadaj!" Loz yelled, searching frantically for any trace of his brothers. He flipped over pieces of debris. "Come out!"

Answer never came.


"Why won't you answer me!"

Tifa Lockheart slammed the phone back into its charger. She had lost count on how many times she'd called Cloud. There was a very annoying customer who kept asking when his delivery would come in. He kept asking for the person who would be delivering, and it was driving her crazy.

Letting out a frustrated groan, she shut her eyes, pulling at her dark brown hair. "Calm down, Tifa," she told herself. "The day's almost over, the shop's closing, and you can get a good night's sleep."

But how could she? She hadn't seen Cloud since they defeated Kadaj, which had been for about a week or so. This normally wouldn't have bothered her, but he had promised to take her out to dinner soon. Snorting a bit, she walked out of the hallway and towards the bar. "'Soon'? Yeah, right . . ."

Tifa went back to cleaning the glasses she had started on earlier. Business had been a bit slow lately, which left her with a little too much free time to think about Cloud. It seemed he had never really recovered from Aeris's death. Of course, she loved Aeris and missed her, but she managed to keep on living—to keep on fighting.

It had always been that way with her—fighting, striving to live . . . to live without Cloud . . . There was just something about him that she loved. Something that she believed she needed. She was overjoyed when he offered to take her out for dinner, but she felt even worse than before when he hadn't talked to her after that.

The 22 year old was so deep in her thoughts she didn't even notice the soft clanging of the bell sound when the door opened. But she did hear something plopping down onto the ground with a thud. Raising her eyes from the glasses, she stared forward, thinking she was alone.

It turned out she wasn't.

Lying on the bar floor, wet and unconscious, was a very familiar-looking man. Tifa stared at him for a moment, thinking of what to do. Gritting her teeth at her decision, she called:

"Marlene, get some bandages!"


Author Notes: So. Uh. Yeah. I'm trying to be descriptive as I can here. I'm used to working through a first-person point of view . . .

Well, anyway . . . please review!